WGA and AMPTP Reach Deal that Avoids Strike

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached an agreement early yesterday that stopped a potentially devastating strike. Both sides were eager to avoid a strike like the WGA strike in 2007, which lasted 100 days and affected many in the film and TV industries. Studio executives even intervened on Sunday, which they rarely do, to avoid Monday’s strike deadline. John Eisendrath, a writer and an executive producer for the TV show The Blacklist, stated:

Studios knew there had to be some give because they’re making a ton of money and it’s really a great period for TV. There’s this weird disconnect between how well the business is doing and how well writers are doing.

One of the key things that the studios agreed to was to increase the guild’s health fund from $60 million to $80 million.

Now that the WGA and AMPTP are both happy with the deal, it is time for the AMPTP to get ready to negotiate with the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) labor union in the next couple of weeks. This could be another possible strike situation for Hollywood, which hopefully does not happen.

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